October!!!

I can't believe it is already October 12th! Time goes by so quickly. (when you are having fun, and when you are busy!) 
 I am trying to remember what all has happened since the last update. The weather is turning cooler and cooler, and the leaves are starting to change colors here in Sapporo. It is kind of hard to know how to dress everyday with the weather going from mildly warm to cool. :) But I love the fall. 


 Last week I started English classes. I have 3 classes. One on Friday, and two on Saturdays. I have had all of my students before, so it is fun to be reunited with them. Hopefully I can remember all my English! haha it is good practice for me. :)


 Keisuke is busy with work. He works every day but Sunday. Sunday we have Sunday morning Worship service (at church) and then in the afternoon we have Gospel Reihai. It is a service that is kind of like a mini concert with a short Gospel message from the Bible. It is good for people who are interested in the Bible, but don't have much previous knowledge. Keisuke is on a band for it, and I am in a new team (3 girls!) so we are kind of doing a simple, Selah style. (Is our goal!) It is a lot of fun. Keisuke's team is 6 guys! They are really fun too. Keisuke plays the electric guitar and sometimes sings harmony... (he also uses his classical guitar sometimes). Hatakeyama san is the lead singer for their team, and he has a really good voice. Then there is Chris' team. It is composed of 4 young men. They are really good too! More of a contemporary rock band style (not really hard though) :) 


 Last Sunday we took our friend Alicia on a drive to see fall leaves (for her birthday present). 
We drove to Jozankei. It was mine and Alicia's first time there. Keisuke used to go fishing there with his dad... He said they never caught much, but sometimes saw these huge salamanders that are rare and only found in Hokkaido.  (I think my brother Tom saw a National Geographic documentary on these a long time ago, and he had told me about them. ) 
 It was raining on our drive, but the leaves still looked pretty. 
We had a picnic in the car and then we went to an onsen. (a.k.a, naked baths). It was a hotel in Jozankei. I had seen the pictures of it on the internet, and it looked really nice, and big! It was big, and spacious, but it didn't have a fun onsen atmosphere really, so we said we want to try a different place sometime. :) 


 On Monday it was another holiday here in Japan. (I am not sure which one) haha, but Keisuke still worked at the store. On holidays he gets off at 5 instead of 7. (wahoo!) 
 We had other couples over that just got married this year too... The Washimi's got married on July 31st, the Yoshio's on August 7th, and then we got married of course on August 21st. So we all got married around the same time.  We had a pitch-in type dinner party. :) It was really fun. They stayed till around 10:30, and we had fun conversation and fellowship. I will put a picture on from our dinner party. :) 


 Well, I think that is about all the new news. 
Hope you are having a wonderful fall! Leave a comment and tell me how you are doing! We miss everybody! If anyone wants to Skype, just give us a time that you are available!! Love, Laura and Keisuke 

 Keisuke, Yoshi, Washimi

 (from far), Rutsu, Midori